Quick review of my new San Dimas

[terrax]

So seeing the strathead on there, and the pricepoint peaked my interest.
So i saw a good deal on ebay for the candy blue one (i already have a candy red orginal pointy), and decided to take a chance.

- The knob is stupid... put a nice black dome knob on there. $7

- The bridge is junk, i could feel the cheepness instantly. I put an ofr and its a world of difference. It wiggles now, and down and up is much smoother. I had to buy a new block 37mm, as the ofr i used was from a soloist which was 32mm.

- The pickups are fine, i wired in a new dimarzio switch that allows a split in the middle position ala petrucci.

- Volume knob is so tight it's hard to turn up and down, going to spray some contact cleaner in there to loosen it up a bit.

- The tuning keys.. grovers.. not a big fan, actually this is the first guitar i have ever had with them on it, but they work, and are smooth.


I'm still breaking her in, but all in all it's a decent guitar from the factory, turns into a great guitar with a few more bucks put into it. the floyd really shouldnt be called a floyd. it's a floyd special, and can be had for $89 new... the bolts are cheap, everything on it screams cheap. I would have rather the list be $1100 new and put a real floyd on there, but i'm sure these probably bite hard into their CS models so that is why some of the decisions were made.

dave

[skorb]

I have a question. I got the CT SoCal and it's my first guitar with any kind of Floyd trem. so I've never played an OFR.

but the korean Floyd on mine seems solid, wiggles fine when you want, dives and returns great, and stays in tune almost perfect, even from gig to gig with transport and temp changes.

may be a neophyte question, but what are the objective advantages of the OFR over what I'm currently experiencing with the korean Floyd?

[joelayres]

I have a question. I got the CT SoCal and it's my first guitar with any kind of Floyd trem. so I've never played an OFR.

but the korean Floyd on mine seems solid, wiggles fine when you want, dives and returns great, and stays in tune almost perfect, even from gig to gig with transport and temp changes.

may be a neophyte question, but what are the objective advantages of the OFR over what I'm currently experiencing with the korean Floyd?

I have 7 guitars with OFR's and 2 production models with the Korean Floyd. The only difference I can tell is the fine tuning on the OFR's is a little bit smoother. Other than that, they are perfectly functioning and completely acceptable.

As a side note, all of the OFR "purists" may be interested to know that Charvel also uses these Korean Floyd's on the DiMartini guitars. They will also be used on the upcoming EVH brand guitars. The only way to get an original German OFR is on a custom shop guitar. This information came from the mouth of a Charvel dealer, so don't shoot the messenger.

[dg]

Dealers are wrong about stuff all the time. When I went to check out the first run of production models, my local dealer told me the custom shop was done taking Charvel orders for good. That's obviously turned out to be nonsense, so I'd take anything a dealer says with a big grain of salt. Ask some of the guys here what trem is on their DeMartini, or better yet ask Bionic about it.

[UFORocks]

Personally, I like the schaller floyd that i recently got from warmoth better than the OFR. I've even been contemplating swapping the OFR on my SL2 to see if that corrects a problem i've had on both my SLs now.

But I digress, how well did the guitar play before you modded it? How was the tone and playability. I can't imagine that it was crap out of the box, its not like you bought a $99 squire, right?

-Steve

[joelayres]

But I digress, how well did the guitar play before you modded it? How was the tone and playability. I can't imagine that it was crap out of the box, its not like you bought a $99 squire, right?

-Steve

Absolutely right. I have a SoCal and Tele production model, and the setups vary greatly out of the box. The SoCal had 2 high frets and when they were leveled it allowed the shim to come out from under the nut. Now it plays as well as any original SD era Strathead I've ever played (and I have one of them too). The tele had the neck shimmed up too high - probably so the Floyd would float - so I removed the shims, dressed the frets and lowered the Floyd so it rests on the body. It also plays extremely well - these necks really are quite good.

If you are considering one, I would recommend playing several at a dealer and making your choice from there. I don't think you can go wrong at this price point, and these do capture the SD "vibe" quite nicely.

[joelayres]

Dealers are wrong about stuff all the time. When I went to check out the first run of production models, my local dealer told me the custom shop was done taking Charvel orders for good. That's obviously turned out to be nonsense, so I'd take anything a dealer says with a big grain of salt. Ask some of the guys here what trem is on their DeMartini, or better yet ask Bionic about it.

Absolutely - some of these dealers are completely full of shit.
They're like dogs - they like to hear themselves bark.

It is very easy to spot the Korean Floyds (which I really don't have any problem with) if you know what to look for - the easiest being that the back end of the saddles on an OFR are cut at a 90 deg angle, whereas on the Korean model they have a small 45 deg bevel on the rear edge.

[shreddermon]

Dealers are wrong about stuff all the time.

+1

[Foulacy]

I don't necessarily find that the korean floyds are that bad of floyds, they just ARENT OFR's. they don't feel the same at all. that being said, for people where this is their first guitar with a floyd, or who don't have a problem with theirs, i wouldn't worry about it at all.

[Bionic]

I have 7 guitars with OFR's and 2 production models with the Korean Floyd. The only difference I can tell is the fine tuning on the OFR's is a little bit smoother. Other than that, they are perfectly functioning and completely acceptable.

As a side note, all of the OFR "purists" may be interested to know that Charvel also uses these Korean Floyd's on the DiMartini guitars. They will also be used on the upcoming EVH brand guitars. The only way to get an original German OFR is on a custom shop guitar. This information came from the mouth of a Charvel dealer, so don't shoot the messenger.

Hi all, let me jump in here.

First, the DeMartini's do NOT have the Korean Floyd. It's the OFR...which by the way is the Schaller.

Secondly, we feel strongly that this bridge is a good fit for for this instrument. Some of our own builders prefer these over the OFR's. I have always expected some people to change them out for OFR's if that is there desire.

Third, the Knob... This has been widely debated. It comes down to personal preference...I can tell you this, it's not a cheap knob! Many people think we went with it as a cost cutting measure... it's actually more expensive than the typical Charvel knob. The purpose for the knob fits into the fact that the pot is tighter and the knob has "grip". It's a feature. NO "accidental" volume adjustments... ? This happens to me at shows ALL the time!

As I said, some like it and some don't... that's totally cool... Mod away! It's part of the Charvel vibe...

I jump in when I can here... when the facts are so far out of whack, I like to adjust the course... Let me know if I can help any further... any myths that I havn't addressed... let me know.

Happy Holidays...

Mike

[Grandturk]

I love the knob. I don't LOVE it, but I love it, you know. I think its cool. Gloss and domed would have made me LOVE it, but as-is I LOVE the bit fat sharp knurls.

[shreddermon]

Thanks for setting the record straight, Mike.

[skorb]

thanks for the info Mike.

I'm one customer who is plenty happy with the korean Floyd so far.
(but I did switch out the gnarly knob lol)

[phill_up]

Hi all, let me jump in here.

I jump in when I can here... when the facts are so far out of whack, I like to adjust the course... Let me know if I can help any further... any myths that I havn't addressed... let me know.

Happy Holidays...

Mike

Mike, Jackson & Charvel are two different entities now? If So are you pretty much on the Charvel side only?
Maybe the admin can answer this: If we have Jackson rumors McD will be the one to clear that up?

Thanks for clearing that up Mike

[joelayres]

Thanks Mike,

I too have no problem with the Korean Floyds - nor the knob for that matter.
The only thing I would suggest is that they spend a few extra minutes on the setup before they leave the factory. To someone who knows how to tweak a setup it's not a big deal, but I have seen these range from very nice setups to very poor and for someone who is not familiar with the ease of tweaking a setup it could very well result in lost sales.

Overall, I'm a big fan of these guitars - excellent bang for the buck.